The Bangladesh Bridge Authority on Wednesday signed separate contracts with the Pubali Bank PLC, Jamuna Bank PLC, Dutch-Bangla Bank PLC and Nagad to use Electronic Toll Collection system on the Padma Bridge.
The system would help people to cross the bridge quickly, said the authority officials.聽
Mohammad Abdur Rouf, secretary to the Bridges Division under the road transport and bridges ministry, attended the contract signing ceremony as the chief guest.
The contracts were signed at the Shetu Bhaban in the capital Dhaka, said a press release issued by the division on the day.
Abdur Rouf said that the initiative was taken following the directive of the road transport and bridges ministry adviser, Muhammad Fouzul Kabir Khan, to make the toll collection process easier, comfortable and time-saving.聽
The contracts were signed by the authority鈥檚 director for finance and accounts joint secretary Khandaker Nurul Haque and deputy general manager Md Rabiul Alam on behalf of Pubali Bank PLC, managing director Mirza Elias Uddin Ahmed on behalf of Jamuna Bank PLC, senior executive vice-president Abdullah Al Masud on behalf of Dutch-Bangla Bank PLC and chief strategy officer Md Muiz Tasnim Taqui on behalf of Nagad.
Under the electronic toll collection system, with radio-frequency identification tags on the motorised vehicles, drivers will not have to stop to pay manually as the tolls will be collected automatically by detecting the radio-frequency identification tags on the vehicles.
Such toll collection systems are used to reduce traffic jams on busy roads.
Currently, tolls on these bridges and roads are collected mainly through a combination of digital and manual systems that need vehicles to stop to pay tolls, creating long queues when traffic flow is huge.
Earlier the Roads and Highways Department, under the road ministry, introduced the ETC system from November 1, 2023 on nine bridges and two roads under it.
The system did not get popular much as many radio-frequency identification tags on the vehicles remained inactive and some vehicles do not have it.
Earlier on July 17, 2022, the then Prime Minister鈥檚 Office formed a committee to recommend solutions to ease traffic congestion at the toll plazas of the Padma Bridge, Dhaka-Mawa-Bhanga Expressway and Mayor Mohammad Hanif Flyover and bring them under an integrated management.